Isaac Dogboe & Richard Commey: Looking to Put Ghana Back on the Boxing Map!
Ghana has had a long and rich history in the sport of boxing. Ghanaian boxers are known to be strong, aggressive fighters with good chins. Of course when I think of boxers from Ghana, I remember the great Azumah Nelson AKA “The Professor”. He was unknown when he suffered his first defeat at the hands of Mexican legend Salvador Sanchez. He gave Sanchez hell for 15 rounds, but finally Sanchez stopped Nelson in the 15th round. However, Nelson put everyone on notice in the boxing world after his great effort. From 1984 to 1996 he was a world champion, and was a world champion in 2 different weight classes (Featherweight and Junior Lightweight). He was inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2004. He defeated great fighters like Wilfredo Gomez, Jeff Fenech, and Genaro Hernandez.
Before my time, the first world champion from Ghana was David “Poison” Kotey. He won the Featherweight WBC title from Ruben Olivares via split decision over 15 rounds. However, his championship was short lived as he made 2 defenses and lost to Danny “Little Red” Lopez via unanimous decision over 15 rounds. It has been said that 120,000 showed up for that fight at the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana, which would be one of the largest attendance for a boxing fight. Other fellow Ghanaians that followed his path were Nana Konadu, Alfred Kotey, Ike Quartey, Joshua Clottey and Joseph Agbeko who all became world champions as well.
Agbeko was the last world champion from Ghana and lost the world title back in 2011 against Abner Mares. Right now, Issac Dogboe and Richard Commey are 2 top fighters from Ghana that are looking to become world champions this year. It has been a few years since Ghana has produced a world champion. These Ghanaians are hoping to change that and bring the hype back to their country.
Richard Commey 25-2, 22 KO’s of Accra, Ghana is a top lightweight contender who is looking to win a world title this year. Commey is an aggressive fighter and brings a fan friendly style. In order to become the lightweight champion he will first have to get past the undefeated Alejandro Luna 22-0, 15 KO’s. This fight will be on the undercard of Sergey Lipinets Vs Mikey Garcia in March. The fight will be an IBF lightweight title eliminator, and should Commey win, he will be the mandatory challenger for Robert Easter, JR. Commey and Easter, JR. already know each other as they fought for the vacant IBF lightweight title back in 2016.
Easter, JR. won the fight by split decision and claimed the title. The fight was also a candidate for “Fight of the Year” for 2016. Commey came up short, but is looking to rebound from his loss and he will have a second chance at a world title as long as he wins.
This brings us to Isaac Dogboe who made a splash in the Super Bantamweight division at the beginning of the year. The former 2012 Olympian Issac Dogboe 18-0, 12KO’s of Accra, Ghana is a short compact fighter with power. Just like his fellow countrymen, Commey, he also brings a fan friendly style. Dogboe defeated top contender Cesar Juarez of Mexico by fifth round stoppage in a slugfest last month. This was an impressive victory for the 23 year old Ghanaian, as Juarez has never been stopped in his career. Juarez also gave “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire all he can handle in a close fight in 2015.
Dogboe is now the interim WBO Super Bantamweight Champion and is lined up to face the undefeated Jessie Magdaleno 25-0, 17 KO’s of Las Vegas, Nevada. This would be a great scrap and hopefully this fight can be made this year. It remains to be seen if the fight will take place in the U.S. or Ghana. Based on the turnout of Dogboe’s last fight, he is a draw in his native Ghana.
If Commey and Dogboe can win world titles this year, this will give Ghana the boost in boxing that they are looking for. In the long run, these fighters are looking to add their names along with the other boxing greats from Ghana.
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